We Did It! Our First Bathroom Reno

January 8, 2019

We learned SO MUCH and we’re so grateful for the pros that we had to lean into the last 5+ months. From asbestos removal to plumbing problems to rotten sub-floor, we kinda had it all with this room. 🤷🏻‍♀️⁣⁣

We started this reno with a big demo and quickly realized we needed to get asbestos testing. It was the smart move and the right move, but it created some major delays in the project.

When we started this bathroom reno, we had intention of completing it prior to tackling the second bathroom (our master bathroom). When the asbestos test results came back, it showed asbestos in the linoleum in both bathrooms. So we had a choice. Either renovate the bathrooms separately and bring the asbestos abatement team in twice ($$$) or renovate them together.

As we’re DIY’ers on a limited budget, we chose to renovate them together. Last July, Elliot demo’d both bathrooms down to the studs (leaving the floor) and in early August, the abatement team came to get the job done!

Where did we pee? Good question. For the following 6ish weeks, our home toilet was the beach outhouse about 900m away.

Once the asbestos was gone, we had free reign to get stuff done. We decided to focus our time on the main bathroom (thinking it was easier/faster), but within a day or two learned that the sub-floor was rotten ha ha!

We worked with a carpenter to replace the sub-floor and then pow wow’d with our friend, David, on how we could level the floor. You see half of the bathroom was an add-on, and we would argue a questionable renovation. There was ridge in the floor and we had an opportunity to fix it.

From there, we got to work on replacing the tub, and David tiled the tub surround. Next up was installing new plumbing, figuring out to support a heavy as heck floating vanity, and painting the room.

One of the biggest changes we made in this room was adding the 2nd interior door. This bathroom is strangely long and had a lot of wasted space. By adding the 2nd door, we were able to create flow to the back of the house and easy access for guests.

We’re by no means ‘done’ but we sure do love it. Next up is vanity lights and mirrors, then hardware. And maybe one day, we’ll do the trim haha. 🙂